A Google employee confirmed this change. "The Star feature no longer exists on Google. The Star function continues to exist through google.com/bookmarks though. Anything you previously starred will show up when you visit bookmarks."

Starred results and SearchWiki were really useful for refinding web pages, but probably not many people used them. These features were a lot more useful than Instant Preview, which is still available.

29 comments:

This is disappointing. After using Delicious, Clipmarks, Chrome bookmarks, I finally figured out the best bookmarking service: Google Bookmarks. Because any link is just a Google search away. All you need is to remember few keywords that bring up the page in Google search.

They suck.I was addicted to this compelling feature.Google constantly keeps on removing exiting features without any alternatives, playing with the users they own.I hope they soon have a decent competitor!

what they should do is not even require you to visit google bookmarks. just add a place for tags right next to the search results. has a tag=bookmarked! then allow a realtime search to filter my results by typing with an operator like in gmail. tag:"tag name"

This is really disappointing! I loved the stars so much, it was really consistent with other Google products aswell. Wouldn't it just be possible to make the bookmark stars OPTIONAL via the Google Search Settings page, so the users can decide their selves if they want to use this?

holyFUCK Google... and AGAIN i've totally lost all faith and respect for you goddammit! was it really that important to get rid of the feature, or did you just anticipate this kind of reaction from your millions of dedicated users? you FUCKING SUCK.... i hate you. and i hope someone else rises to dominance. you can't imagine the types of tremors you've sent across the globe. your users hear you, and they will respond. preferably not to your liking...

A Google employee confirmed this change. "The Star feature no longer exists on Google. The Star function continues to exist through google.com/bookmarks though. Anything you previously starred will show up when you visit bookmarks."

i found it very useful and would appreciate it, if we could get the bookmark star back... i'm really missing it and won't use additional tools for bookmarking my staff. it was pretty easy to bookmark stuff straight out off the search results.

also, i noticed that this "starr project" feature at google code won't work, too. i click on it, the star gets yellow and after a second it reverts back to white. since some weeks for now..

I'm also disappointed that the Star feature has been removed. It reminds me that with a company like Google becoming more and more in control over how we use web and computers in general, we are left vulnerable to them taking things away that we feel we own whenever they want. Will they take away Google Docs in future without warning? May be not, but what could stop them? Will someday Google control the entire worlds information - it feels like that's where they're heading!

the last line above says 'Starred results and SearchWiki were really useful for refinding web pages, but probably not many people used them. These features were a lot more useful than Instant Preview, which is still available' maybe I am reading this wrong but if a lesser useful feature like Instant Preview is still being retained and more useful but less used feature like stars are removed... what happened to the basic level of usability for the common user?and I thought google still had people who thought common sense than uncommon logic

That’s the big difference from Google to others.How can we trust Google? They do whatever they want and when they want.That’s why I choose Microsoft Online Services instead of Google Docs. I don’t want to wake up in the morning to find out there is something I use missing.

Just got this post while checking about Google starred results. We all knows higher positions come with great responsibilities and Google is at the top in search market. Having more than 60% of search market share, its Google's responsibility to take care of its users. But by doing such kind of experiments and that even without the knowledge of its users, Google is ruining his own reputation.